TUESDAY, AUGUST 6 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D5
and more confidently and that
the new focus on his body has
translated to production on the
field.
“When I got to this level, I
thought maybe I could stay up
late, eat bad and [just] come in,”
Anderson said. “It just don’t
work that way.... A lot of stuff
I’ve got to do on my own.”
His study habits also changed,
and he said knowing more of the
defense has allowed him to play
faster. But that also required a
change in mentality: Anderson
said he has loosened up, even
from the start of training camp,
and that has allowed him to stop
looking over his shoulder and
just play.
If there’s a time to get serious,
it’s now. The starting job is his to
lose, and the team spent a first-
round draft pick to bring in
Montez Sweat at the same
position. Anderson has the leg
up as a veteran, but teams don’t
spend first-round picks to keep a
guy on the bench. It’s up to
Anderson to prove he’s more
than the player who totaled 32
tackles and two sacks in his first
two seasons — because even if
Sweat ultimately claims the
starting role, both players are
likely to see playing time.
“I think he’s gotten himself
into better shape this year,”
Coach Jay Gruden said of
Anderson. “Which is, for his style
of play — physical, hustling,
tough mentality — you’ve got to
be in great shape. I think he’s put
himself in a position... in the
weight room and [with] the
training staff, where his motor
should be able to run hot for a
longer period of time.”
— Kareem CopelandExcerpted from
washingtonpost.com/redskinsOLB Anderson wants
more than status quoRyan Anderson had a moment of
clarity in the spring. He was now
the favorite to be a starting
outside linebacker for the
Washington Redskins after a pair
of lackluster seasons that were
marred by injury. The status quo
of his first two seasons wouldn’t
be enough moving forward.
“I feel like I’m a lot more
mature and taking care of my
business,” he said. “I’m not a guy
that doesn’t realize what’s going
on. I realize what’s going on. I
realized I hadn’t been where I
needed to be. My weight and my
body, I realized I wasn’t taking it
serious. Now, I’m [going to] do
everything I’ve got to do, and
we’ll see when I start playing.
We’ll get the results.”
The adjustments began off the
field. No more fried food. Fewer
carbs. No more late-night meals.
Better hydration.
Anderson also started taking
body maintenance more
seriously. He picked up nuances
from teammate Ryan Kerrigan’s
routine, started stretching better
before and after workouts. The
goal is to play at about 245
pounds, and the former Alabama
standout said he can feel the
difference already. There haven’t
been any training camp cramps,
and Anderson said he feels he’s
moving better and getting
through practice with more
energy.
Kerrigan said that he has
noticed Anderson playing lowerNorton, whose left arm was am-
putated after a car crash last
month, is still lending the team
moral support.
Norton attended practice at
training camp, and players hud-
dled around him during a break
midway through the workout.
“To have him out here smiling,
it lifts your spirits,” defensive
tackle Akeem Spence said. “It’s
great. It shows his character.”
The Dolphins signed Norton in
December and, following the ac-
cident, placed him on the
reserve/non-football injury list.
BRONCOS: Emmanuel
Sanders and Courtland Sutton,
Denver’s top two wide receivers
and both SMU alumni, got into a
heated exchange and scuffle
during practice.
Guard Ronald Leary eventual-
ly led Sutton, a second-year pro,
away from Sanders, a 10-year
veteran who’s making his way
back from a torn Achilles’ tendon.
“Obviously it’s not good. It
can’t happen, shouldn’t happen,”
Coach Vic Fangio said. “But
you’ve got to be able to react to
these things and handle them the
right way.”
That started with Fangio halt-
ing practice and gathering his
players to tell them to pick up the
pace after a slow start and to
address the tussle between Sand-
ers and Sutton.
The wide receivers declined to
comment as they walked off the
field at different times and en-
tered team headquarters through
different doors.
BILLS: Offensive tackle
LaAdrian Waddle has a torn right
quadriceps and is expected to
miss the season, a person with
knowledge of the injury con-
firmed to the Associated Press.
The person spoke on the condi-
tion of anonymity because the
team hadn’t revealed the severity
of the injury.
Earlier in the day, Coach Sean
McDermott said only that Wad-
dle would miss practice a day
after hurting his quadriceps.
Waddle was injured Sunday
while working with the third-
string offense and was unable to
place any weight on his right leg
while being loaded onto a cart.
COLTS: Indianapolis added
running back D’Onta Foreman
off waivers from the Houston
Texans.
Foreman was cut Sunday after
Coach Bill O’Brien expressed dis-
pleasure with the 2017 third-
round draft pick.
In two seasons with Houston,
the 6-foot-1, 235-pound Foreman
logged 85 carries for 326 yards
and two scores and caught eight
passes for 111 yards and a touch-
down.
The Colts made room on the
roster by cutting recently signed
running back Keith Ford.ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Dallas Cowboys waived
tight end Rico Gathers, ending
three years of steady progress
with the club for the former
Baylor basketball player who
chose to pursue pro football
instead of the NBA.
The 25-year-old’s status on the
roster became more tenuous
when 11-time Pro Bowl pick Jason
Witten came out of retirement
after a year in broadcasting.
Gathers also missed time at train-
ing camp with an ankle injury
before Monday’s decision.
Gathers hadn’t played football
in a decade when he decided after
four years in the Baylor basket-
ball program that he would make
himself eligible for the NFL draft.
One of the best rebounders in
Big 12 history was a long shot to
get selected, but the Cowboys
grabbed the 6-foot-6 Gathers
during the draft’s sixth round in
2016.
After a year on the practice
squad and a season on injured
reserve because of symptoms
from a concussion, Gathers made
the team last year. He played in 15
games with four starts, catching
three passes for 46 yards.
Gathers is still facing a one-
game suspension to start the
season for violating the NFL’s
substance-abuse policy. He was
arrested on a marijuana posses-
sion charge last year.
Witten, Blake Jarwin and
Darwin Schultz are likely to make
the 53-man roster. Second-year
player Codey McElroy is the
fourth tight end in camp.
BROWNS: Suspended run-
ning back Kareem Hunt prom-
ised to “lay low” following a
recent argument outside a bar
that led to police questioning and
raised team concerns.
Hunt is barred by the NFL
from Cleveland’s first eight
games for two physical alterca-
tions while he played for the
Kansas City Chiefs. In one case,
he shoved and kicked a woman.
The Browns signed him in March.
Last month, Hunt argued with
a friend outside a downtown bar,
prompting police to question
him. Hunt called it a “misunder-
standing” but said after Monday’s
practice that he’s going to be
smarter and “not make the same
mistake again.”
Hunt has been slowed by a
groin injury during training
camp. He’s allowed to play in
preseason games, but it’s not
clear whether he’ll be on the field
Thursday when the Browns host
the Washington Redskins.
Hunt is still waiting to learn
whether the league will allow
him to be around the team during
his suspension.
DOLPHINS: Former Miami
defensive tackle Kendrickone or a two,” Haskins said. “[I’m]
just trying to figure out ways to
hit a stride and keep getting
better... whether it’s throwing
extra after practice, staying lon-
ger after a meeting or whatever it
is necessary for me being ready to
play.”
Thursday’s preseason opener
may change a lot of things. With
actual live action against another
team, and with a pass rush pour-
ing in, a lot might be learned
about each of the men fighting to
be Washington’s starting quarter-
back this year — and the daily
battle might not be as even as it
still seems now.
[email protected]“just having fun with” the quar-
terback competition, under-
standing that he is fighting
against two players who have
eight to 10 years of experience. He
figures this is an advantage, be-
cause he can ask them — along
with Alex Smith, who has offered
some advice to Washington’s
passers while recovering from his
serious leg injury — how to han-
dle certain situations. Like
Keenum, he didn’t complain
about the way the team is han-
dling the daily battle — maybe
because, as a first-year player, he
doesn’t know any other way.
“Finding a rhythm is hard
when you don’t go as often as aKeenum recalled being in battles
for a backup position with other
teams in which he and the player
he was competing against would
practice on alternating days. He
would take all the second-team
snaps one day and then sit and
watch the other.
“I did not like that at all,” he
said.
“I’ve competed in this league
for a long time, and I’ve had to
share reps everywhere I go,” he
added. “Do I want to have them
all? Yeah, I do. I want to take all
the reps, but I know I have to
stand behind and I’ve got to
pretend I’m in the rep.”
Haskins described himself asshould rise to the top.” The team
published a depth chart, which
Gruden dismissed as “words on a
piece of paper,” that lists Colt
McCoy as the starter with Case
Keenum as the backup and
Dwayne Haskins as the third-
stringer. The rotation roughly
mirrors the rotation in practice,
but not completely.
The closest thing to a separa-
tion within the group came Mon-
day when McCoy limped slightly
off the field and was held out of
the final period of practice for
what the team called “precau-
tionary reasons.” McCoy skipped
a scheduled session with report-
ers that Keenum and Haskins
attended, but nobody seemed
concerned about McCoy’s status.
Still, this is what passes for news
in the Redskins’ quarterback
battle these days.
A former quarterback himself,
Gruden has talked a lot in recent
months about his desire to be fair
to each of the men fighting for the
starting job. He fretted Monday
that he isn’t giving his quarter-
backs enough chances to shine,
but he knows there’s no other way
he can do this.
“There might be a day where
one of them might struggle on the
five or six reps he had in seven-
on-seven, where if he had 12 reps
in that seven-on-seven period, he
might have got himself out of the
funk and finished really well,”
Gruden said. “Unfortunately, we
have to sub in the next guy, so
you’ve got to really hone in on
your reps as a quarterback be-
cause you’re not going to get as
many reps as you normally would
if you were the No. 1 guy.”
This could be challenging — if
the men fighting for the job were
bitter about this arrangement.
But if anything, Keenum and
Haskins seemed to accept it as a
necessity of their situation.
REDSKINS FROM D1
Redskins training camp
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POSTThe Marshall plan
Redskins running back Byron Marshall takes on the equipment during a drill at training camp in Richmond.REDSKINS NOTESMakeshift offensive line
is starting to take shapeNearly a week has passed since the
Redskins have felt the need to work
out a free agent offensive lineman,
and that’s a good thing. Kind of.
The team is still without seven-time
Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams,
and his holdout has no end in sight.
Coach Jay Gruden and the
organization have turned to a
combination of 2018 third-round
draft pick Geron Christian, recently
signed three-time Pro Bowler Donald
Penn, 36, and four-year veteran Corey
Robinson, another camp addition.
Not only is the team having to
prepare for the worst — life without
Williams — but it needs to fill the hole
at left guard it has had since theoffseason. Former first-round pick
Ereck Flowers was signed in free
agency to compete for that job, but he
was forced to play tackle before
Christian was cleared to return from a
knee injury and the other two were
signed.
After an acclimation period for
Penn and Robinson, Gruden seems to
have settled into something of a
rotation: Christian and Flowers at left
tackle and left guard, respectively, for
the first team, with Penn and rookie
Wes Martin filling those roles for the
second team. The staff is still playing
with combinations, but these pairings
have been most common.
“Mixing and matching these guys
until we find out the right
combination for [the season opener
at] Philadelphia is what we’re
hopefully going to find out in thepreseason,” Gruden said.Settle impresses
Second-year defensive tackle Tim
Settle has been a problem for
offensive linemen in one-on-one
drills. He has been quick off the ball
and has the strength to power
through opponents after putting
them in a bad spot. Settle had
impressive reps against Tony
Bergstrom, Wes Martin and Chase
Roullier on Monday, reminding why
he is yet another talented member of a
deep defensive line group.
Safety Montae Nicholson also had a
good showing. He was popping
people during practice, bringing
aggression to the field even though it
wasn’t a live tackle session.
— Kareem CopelandOBSERVATIONSExcerpted from washingtonpost.com/redskinsNFL NOTESWith Witten back at it,
Cowboys waive Gathers
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Practice: 1:35 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
Thursday at Browns, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 15 vs. Bengals, 7:30 p.m.Aug. 22 at Falcons, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 29 vs. Ravens, 7:30 p.m.SEASON OPENER
Sept. 8 at Eagles, 1 p.m. MORE ONLINE
Visit washingtonpost.com/redskinsThree-way competition challenges the quarterbacks
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
From left, Dwayne Haskins, Colt McCoy and Case Keenum are trying to get reps during training camp.